Jenni Heka
HEART Change Agent Jenni Heka grew up in Glen Innes on Mad Ave. After high school she studied Film and Television at South Seas and began an acting career in NZ. She then started working overseas and spent 11 years in Sydney. After becoming a mother, she returned to Aotearoa and to her roots in Tāmaki with her children.
Back in Aotearoa Jenni returned to study and completed a double major in Anthropology and Pacific Studies. She then went on to land several advisory roles and nurtured her passion for performing arts. She helped establish a collective of Māori and Pacific creatives named Banana Boat which produced plays that have a significant place in NZ performance theatre history.
It was while she was working in Korea that she heard about an opportunity in Tāmaki which she felt inspired and encouraged to apply for. In 2014 Te Oro Music and Arts centre opened its doors in Glen Innes with Jenni as the Centre Manager. She first heard about the HEART Movement when she started at Te Oro from former HEART Coordinator Nandita. That connection led to Te Oro forming and developing its first MoU partnership with a local organisation. As Te Oro was a new facility in the community, HEART was way to reconnect with the community. Jenni says HEART was a good way to be re-educated and learn about working authentically with the community. Te Oro became the venue for HEART Pockets of Hope Dinners that provided kai and a space for community connection. The dinners were popular with local people and bought many organisations together.
A highlight for Jenni this year was the Mana Wāhine event in March, it encapsulated her role at Te Oro which has the freedom to connect and deliver what the community wants. The event came out of conversations at the Koru Group which Jenni was part of. She was happy to open the doors to Te Oro to host the event. Jenni recalls the agile and organic nature of the planning and management between the Koru Group, organisations and Te Oro. This way of working pulled off an amazing event attended by over 100 women. Jenni particularly liked how the event involved local women and helped project them to the next level, in particular the young women from the youth panel, which Jenni’s daughter was part of.
Creating safe spaces is important for communities and Jenni says that HEART does this well. From her and her daughters’ experience at Mana Wāhine and Koru Group she says it is special for our community to have “crunchy conversations” and a space to articulate what’s on top. She also appreciates the little nudges she gets from the Koru group to prioritise self-care.
Jenni says healthy relationships are a work in progress. She says relationships must make you feel good about yourself and encourage you to be the best you can be. She says that includes unconditional love, laughter, forgiveness, honestly, taking responsibility and agreeing to disagree. Also, she says having a good relationship with yourself is important, being nice to yourself as well as being self-reflective, owning your actions and being empathetic.
Ngā mihi nui Jenni for supporting the HEART Movement and being a great human in Tāmaki.